CENTENNIAL, Colo.—A judge Thursday postponed a hearing for a man accused of causing a crash that killed three people, including a child in an ice cream shop, as family members of the victims objected.
Francis M. Hernandez, who authorities say is an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, is now scheduled to enter a plea Jan. 9 on 19 counts, including vehicular homicide and child abuse resulting in death.
Hernandez is accused in the Sept. 4 deaths of 49-year-old Patricia Guntharp, 52-year-old Debra Serecky and 3-year-old Marten Kudlis.
Arapahoe County District Judge John Wheeler postponed the hearing because Hernandez’s defense attorney asked for more time.
“We’re having a very hard time right now. We’d just like to get everything over,” said Marat Kudlis, Marten Kudlis’ father, as he fought back emotion while addressing Wheeler. “That’s why we’re objecting.”
Marat Kudlis’ wife, Emily, stood next to him. William Serecky, Debra Serecky’s husband, also spoke in court to object.
Police say Hernandez ran a red light in his SUV and broadsided Guntharp’s pickup, sending it into the ice cream shop where Marten sat at a table while waiting for an ice cream.
Hernandez smiled and nodded in acknowledgment to supporters in the courtroom, including a woman who was holding a baby, as he sat in his orange prison uniform, hands chained to his waist and his feet shackled. At one point he nearly broke into tears as he looked at a young woman sitting in court.
His supporters declined to identify themselves when approached by a reporter.
Defense attorney Kallman Elinoff has said Guntharp contributed to the accident because a toxicology report showed she had methamphetamine and other “drugs of abuse” in her system when the accident occurred. He has asked prosecutors to drop the more serious charges of vehicular homicide.
Prosecutors have said Hernadez was weaving in and out of traffic before the wreck.
Investigators said Hernandez was going 78 mph in a 40-mph zone at the time of the crash, while Guntharp was estimated to be traveling 10 mph when she made a left turn into a hamburger restaurant.
Elinoff told the judge that prosecutors have offered no plea deal.
